Fresh starts, new beginnings

Apart from the physical impact of the pandemic, didn’t so many of us say that it has taught us what was really important, what mattered, gave us perspective? We meant it when we said it. But that was months ago - and we are back to obsessing over trivia.

Maya Sharma

An irresistible concept for many of us as we head out of an old year, into the new. Whether it’s a dip in a holy river, confession, or jotting down those New Year resolutions that don’t seem to have changed much over the years...we all want that chance to leave all our ‘sins’ behind, to do things over and to do things right.

Spring time - or the start of the monsoon after a hot summer - does seem a more natural time to think of the beginning of a New Year. That is something reflected in our home-grown festivals. But when it comes to the Gregorian calendar that we follow, for those of us in the northern hemisphere, the middle of winter it is.

We are reminded to live in the moment. To be mindful of things around us, to be aware of our current feelings and emotions. To see them and to acknowledge them. All very valid and something I do try to remember as my mind wanders when I shut my eyes in yoga class.

But at this time of year I believe we do need to look, both back and ahead as well. Not just around us in the now, at the ‘subdued year end’ that Covid has decreed for the second year in a row.

The year gone by, 2021, didn’t get the bad rap that 2020 did. Maybe we lowered our standards. Maybe we were tired of trolling a calendar year. But 2021 brought many bad things. Those who lost someone they loved in that terrible second wave of Covid 19 that hit us this summer will not forget the second wave. Those whose own health suffered and who are still not quite back to where they were will not forget it. Those who worked on the front line, risking their own lives to help others will never forget it. For others though, it’s like the second wave never happened. We hope that Omicron is ‘milder’ than Delta - but shouldn’t we still be taking the basic precautions of masking up, getting vaccinated, avoiding crowds? The year end is seeing once again a rise in infection, and the new year could bring in that third wave.

Apart from the physical impact of the pandemic, didn’t so many of us say that it has taught us what was really important, what mattered, gave us perspective? We meant it when we said it. But that was months ago - and we are back to obsessing over trivia.

The year also saw many going down a dark road that this country has been down before. Suspicion, anger, hate against the ‘other.’ Online trolling and physical violence in the real world. We need to remember that the road leads to nowhere but hell on earth, and step back into the light. Remember that old phrase that was often used - ‘Unity in diversity.’ We stopped using it. Many seemed to have stopped believing it. We need to remember the thoughts, relationships, situations we don’t need and which are not good for us - and to try to leave them behind.

Year after year, too many of us stay with the same situation, even when it causes pain, because it is familiar. Taking stock at the end of the year is a good time to remind ourselves to move on. To do a Marie Kondo on all the bad baggage. (Remember her from pre-pandemic days? Before we all started spending so much more time at home anyway that we tidied up more than we had for years...) If you figure out how to do all that - please tell me how!

Looking ahead - I hope for more connection in a socially- distanced world. And the hope that at the end of 2022 we are not still talking about night curfews and rising case numbers. That we say ‘2022 - now THAT was a good year...’ Fresh starts. New beginnings. Go for it!

(Maya Sharma is one of the city’s better-known television journalists)